Fornia



Patented Aug. 16,1921.

IN Innuwlu WITNESS UNITED STATES GEORGE NQBLANCHAED, or SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA, AssrG PATENT OFFICE. i

NOR TO COLMAR BURNER CO., INC., F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ACORPORATION 0F CALI- FORNIA.

AUTOMATIC FUEL CONTROL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 16, 1921.

Application filed January 31, 1920. Serial No. 355,361.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEoizGE N. BLAN- CHARD a Citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.Automatic Fuel Controls, of which the following is a specification.'

In hydrocarbon burners as at present manufactured the same will floodshould L the burner flame Vbecome accidentally exi' is maintained at apredetermined temperature by the burner flame.

The principal objectl of the present invention is to provide a meanspreferably associated with the burner generator and controlled by thetemperature thereof for permitting a flow of fuel into and through thegenerator during such time as the generator is at asullicient'temperature to generate the 1 fuel passingtherethrough into agas. A

Vfurther obj ect is to provide a means whereby the operation of fuelcontrolling means is capable of being varied in accordance with,dilferentte'mperatures of the generator. A further object is to providea construction wherein mechanical means are provided for positivelyshutting off the flow of fuel to the generator at such time asthetemperature of the generator falls below a predetermined point. l i

With the above'mentioned and otherobjectsin view, Vthe inventionconsists in the novel yconstruction and combination of parts hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forth inthe claims hereto appended, rit being understood that various changes inthe form, proportion, lsize and minor detailsV of construction kwithinthe scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

To more fully comprehend the invention, reference is directed to theaccompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionalview of one form of burner with the preferred embodiment of my inventionapplied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical detailed sectional view of the controlling valveforming a part of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like characters ofreference designate corresponding parts, l indicates a suitable burnermember having a base 2, and formed with an interior mixing chamber 3.The mixing chamber is provided at suitable points with suitable burneropenings and the openings 5, for av flame to issue from the burner at apoint beneath the generator'hereinafter described. Liquid hydrocarbonfuel, preferably under pressure, is Supplied to the burner through thepipe 6, vpreferably controlled by a manually operated valve 7 abovewhich is mounted an automatic valve 8, provided with a .fuel inletopening 9 and outlet opening 10,/ the outlet opening discharging into acoupling 11 carried on the outer end of a generator 12. The fuelgenerator 12 is preferably of the conventional tubular construction andis disposed longitudinally of the generator burner openings 5 and abovethat portion of the burner member 1 adjacent the burner openings, thegenerator being supported by suitable brackets 13, provided withopenings through which the generator projects. At its discharge end thegenerator discharges into the mixing chamber 3, thus, it will beapparent that the liquid fuel entering into the generator under pressureis converted, by the temperature of the generator which is maintained bythe llame through openings 5, into a gas, the major portion of whichescapes through the burner openings not shown. To automatically controlthe flow of the hydrocarbon fuel through the generator 12 in accordancewith the temperature of the generator I employ the folconnecting at oneend with the outlet opening 10 and` formed at a point approximatelycentrally of the chamber 15 with a lateral inlet opening 17 disposedpreferably at right angles to the channel in arm 1G, and said inletopening 17 is preferably formed with a valve seat 18. One end of thechamber 15 is adapted to be closed by a removal plug 19 threaded into anopening in the body'lfland to the other open end of the chamber 15 'isthreaded a coupling 20. to which is in turn threaded a closure cap 21,provided with an outwardly extending' nipple 22, said cap being'provided with an opening' 2?) connecting' the nipple with the inner wallsurface thereof. A suitable diaphragm 211 is held between the end of thecoupling 20 andthe wall of the closure cap 21 providing a. chamber 25 atthe outer face of said diaphragm communicating with the interior of thenipple 22 through the opening 23 and closing the interior of the chamber15, so that the leakage of the liquid .fuel admit-ted thereinto isprevented. Mounted within the chamber 15 is a headed piston 26, the stem2T of which is slotted for receiving the end of the arm 1G, and saidstem at the rear end of the slot is provided with a threaded opening`28, within which is threaded a needle-valve 29, the opening 30 of whichis adapted for coperation with the valve seat 18 associated with thelateral arm 1G. The outer end of the valve 29 is preferably slotted asat to admit of adjusting the same within the threaded opening' 28, atsuch time a. the plug 19 is removed fo 'm the body The headed end of thepiston 26 is normally maintained in Contact with the rear face of thediaphragm 24 by the coiled compression spring 32 to maintain the pointedend 3() or the needle valve 29 in contact with its seat 18. Threadedinto the nipple 22 is a suitable tube 33 of relatively7 small diameterand the same is adapted to extend parallel with and in close proximityto the generator 12 and preferably above the generator burneropenings 5.The outer end of the tube 33 is closed and is preferably coiled as at 3eabout the discharge end of the generator' 12, so thatthe outer end ofthe tube will be maintained at approximately the same temperature as thedischarge end of saidgenerator 12. The tube 33, chamber .25., opening 23and interior of the nipple 22 are preferably filled with mercury,v thusproviding' a thermostatic member associated with the automatic valve 8whereby on the heating of the generator 12 to a predeterminedtemperature the expansion of the mercury within the tube 38 will operatethe diaphragm 24- which will in turn7 through the piston 2G release thevalve 29 from its seat and permit passage of fuel underpressure from thepipe 6 through the automatic valve 8 and into the generator 12. Shouldfor any reason the temperature of the generator 12 fall below apredetermined degree, the contaetion of the mercury within the tube willrelease the pressure in the tube and chamber 25 and permit the spring'82 to the valve 29, cutting off the flow of fuel to the generator' untilthe same is again heated to a sufficient temperature to gasify theliquid fuel admitted thereinto. It will be apparent that the adjustmentof the needle valve 29 within the threaded opening 28 controls thesensitiveness of operation of the automatic valve.

While have illustrated the present invention with a particular form offuel burner and generator, it is to be understood that such disclosurewiththe respective burner" and gene ator is merely illustrative and thatl am not to be confined to any particular type of burner or gene ator,and in my present illustration l have only described such portions ofthe burner and generator as are absolutely essential in carrying' outthe invention.

Having thus described my invention what 1 claim is:

1. ln combination with a generating tube having' a liquid fuel inlet anda gas outlet, of a valve for controlling the supply of liquid fuel tothe generating tube, a thermostat in thermal contact with the generatingtube for opening said valve on said` generating tube attaining apredetermined tempera-ture, and a spring for closing' said valve.

2. In combination withV a generator tube adapted for operativeconnection at one end with a liquid fuel supply and having at its otherend a gas outlet, of a valve for controlling the supply of fuel thereto7a thermostat extending parallel with and in close prox-I imity to saidgenerating tube and surrounding the same at the gas outlet end thereoffor controlling the operation of said valve on said tube attaining apredetermined temperature7 and means for adjusting said valve to operateat different predetermined temperatures of said tube.

8; In combination with a generator tube adapted for operative connectionat one end with a liquid fuel supply and having at its other end a gasoutlet, of a valve for controlling the supply of fuel thereto, athermostat extending parallel with and in close proximity to saidgenerating tube and surrounding the same at the gas outlet end thereoffor controlling the operation of said valve on said tube attaining apredetermined. temperature, and means for varying the stroke vof saidvalve to causethe same to operate in accordance with different,predetermined temperatures of said tube.

4. 1n combination with a generator tube adapted for operative connectionat one end with a liquid fuel supply and at its other end with a gasoutlet, of means for controlling `the supply of fuel thereto inaccordance with a thermostat tube extending parallel with said generatortube, avalve within said fuel feed pipe and including a casing providedVwith a fuel passage therethrough, a diaphragm across the casing, aconnection between the end of said thermostat tube and said casing atone side of said diaphragm, a piston within said casing at the oppositeside of said diaphragm, a needle valve adjustably carried thereby andadapted for operation by the movement of said piston to control thepassage of fuel through said passage, a spring for maintaining saidpiston in contact with said diaphragm, and a closure plug in said casingadapted for removal to permit adjustment of said needle valve.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a burner,a generator tube overlying the same and subjected to the heat of saidburner and adapted to form a passage for a fluid fuel discharging intosaid burner, a valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the generatortube, a spring for normally maintaining said valve closed, and athermostat subjected to a temperature corresponding to that of thegenerator tube and opposing the pressure of said spring for operatingsaid valve to open on the generator tube attaining a generatingtemperature.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a burner,a generator tube overlying the same and subjected to the heat of saidburner and adapted toform a pasr sage for a fluid fuel discharging intosaid burner, a fuel feed pipe connected with said generator tube, aspring closed valve without the field of the burner for controlling theflow of fuel into the generator tube, and a thermostat acted on by atemperature corresponding to that of said generator tubev and connectedwith said valve to oppose the pressure of the valve closing spring,whereby said valve is maintained open on said generator tube attaining apredetermined temperature.

7 In a device of the character described, the combination of a burner, agenerator tube overlying the same and subjected to the heat of saidburner and adapted to form a passage for a fluid fuel discharging intosaid burner, a fuel feed pipe connected with said generator tube, avalve casing through which fuel supplied to said generator tube passes,a valve within said casing for controlling the passage of fueltherethrough, a spring within the casing for normally closing the valve,and a Vthermostat extended from the casing into proximity to saidgenerator and into a temperature corresponding to that of said generatortube for moving said valve against the action of said spring wherebyfuel is supplied to the generator tube on the same attaining agenerating temperature.

8. In a device of the character described,v

the combination of a burner, a generator tube overlying the same andsubjected to the heat of said burner and adapted to form a passage for afluid fuel discharging into said burner, a fuel feed pipe connected withsaid generator tube, a valve casing through which fuel supplied to saidgenerator tube passes, a valve Within said casing for controlling thepassage of fuel therethrough, a spring Within the casing for normallyclosing the valve, a thermostat extended from the casing in proximity tosaid generator and into a temperature corresponding substantially tothat of said generator tube, whereby said valve is moved against theactionof said spring to supply fuel to the generator tube on the sameattaining a generating temperature, and means for controlling the strokeof said valve.

In testimony whereof I have signed myV

